Chapter 37
Eve took a deep breath as she opened the email from her head of department.
Dear Eve
Having considered the sensitive issues in this case and notwithstanding the fact that James Clarke has been recalled to prison by the probation service and no longer presents a direct threat to the students, the board of governors has expressed ongoing concerns regarding the negative publicity that your association with him has attracted, which, if it continues, is expected to bring both the faculty and the college into disrepute.
The board has therefore requested that you cease this relationship with immediate effect or face suspension.
We invite you to consider your position in advance of a meeting to be arranged for the first day of the new term, the details of which will be confirmed with you and your union representative in due course.
Yours sincerely
Iwan Raker
Eve closed the email and sat back in the chair in her kitchen, feeling a lump form in the back of her throat.
She stared into space for several moments, listening to the sound of the clock ticking on the wall in front of her, then opened a web page on her browser and typed in the name of her union.
She was just about to get up to fetch her phone from the worktop, when it rang. She snatched it up, swiping the slider.
‘This is a call from someone detained in custody,’ said an automated voice. ‘Hang up if you don’t wish to receive this call.’
Eve waited, her heart hammering as the phone made a series of small clicks. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of a person at the other end. ‘Joe?’ she asked. ‘Is that you?’
‘Eve,’ he said, in the simple way he did, as if her name was all he could manage.
‘Are you OK?’ she asked breathlessly.
There was a pause, and then he said, his voice low and flat, ‘Not too great, if I’m honest.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with emotion.
‘It’s good to hear your voice.’
‘It’s good to hear yours. I’m so pleased you called.’
‘I wanted to call sooner,’ he said, ‘but I was only allowed one phone call and I needed to tell Chas. The police broke his door down. I wasn’t sure if the house was secure. And then it has taken them until now to get me here and process me.’
‘When did they arrest you?’
‘Friday evening.’
Eve drew a breath. Right after she’d seen him from the street. All this time she had thought he was upset with her, that he was ignoring her, but this hadn’t been the case at all. ‘Why did this happen?’
A pause. ‘They said I came to your college.’
She took a breath. ‘And did you?’
‘No,’ he said staunchly. ‘That part’s a lie.’
‘Then why …?’
Another pause. ‘They’re also saying that I met with a prosecution witness.’
Eve’s heart fluttered. ‘And did you?’ When he didn’t answer, she asked, ‘Which one?’
‘Not on the phone,’ he said under his breath.
‘Was it a woman?’ she whispered. ‘Did she come to the house?’
‘Please, Eve. Not here. Not now.’
‘OK,’ she agreed reluctantly. She had so many questions.
‘Come to see me,’ he begged. ‘Please?’
Her heart rose. ‘Of course.’
‘I’ve added you to my visitor list. You’ll need my date of birth and prison number. Have you got a pen?’
She grabbed one, and a notepad, and sat down at the table while he gave her the details she needed.
‘You can do it online,’ he said. ‘Or there’s a phone number.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll work it out.’
He fell silent and Eve knew that he needed to know if she was still on his side. ‘Just hang on in there, OK?’ she said. ‘I’m going to call Sarah. We’re going to get this sorted out.’
‘There’s nothing you can do,’ he told her. ‘I don’t even have an end date this time. It’s all down to the parole board, and it will take months, probably a year, for me to even get a hearing.’ The line went quiet. ‘I just don’t know if I can do this again,’ he whispered.
Eve could hear the pain and hopelessness in his voice and tears sprang to her eyes.
Whatever he had done, he must have had his reasons, and they must have been important for him to risk going back to prison.
Right now, Joe needed her. He was desperate and alone in the world and she couldn’t bear the thought of him in pain.
She wiped her tears away and steadied her voice, forcing herself to sound commanding.
‘Yes, you can, Joe. You can do this. This is just a setback, and this time it’s different.
You’re not on your own any more. You have the best lawyer anyone could have, and …
and you have me.’ She swallowed. ‘Someone who loves you.’ She felt herself flushing.
Should she have said that? But it was the truth.
‘I don’t care what you’ve been told,’ she said, sounding as confident as she could manage. ‘We’re going to get you out of there.’
She waited. There was another long silence, and then he said, ‘I’m going to get cut off in a minute.’
‘I’ll send you some money,’ she said.
‘You don’t have to—’ he began.
‘Yes, I do. You’ll need it to phone me and Sarah.’
‘OK,’ he murmured. ‘Thank you.’
Eve held her breath, not wanting to begin a sentence only to get cut off, and there was silence on the line for a moment.
Then he said, in a small, choked voice, ‘You will come, won’t you?’
Eve felt her throat tighten. ‘Of course I’ll come. I’ll come as soon as they let me. I’ll book it the minute we get off the phone.’
‘OK.’
‘I’ll see you very soon,’ she said. ‘I promise.’
‘OK,’ he said again, and then, just as the call ended, he said softly, ‘I love you, too.’